How can i use implicit intent but avoid "select an app to handle this intent" screen?

Question

In my code I want to trigger an implicit intent to open another android library activity.

Intent i = new Intent("Shared library", Uri.parse("https://www.google.com/"));
startActivity(i);

Lets say few apps contain this same library. If I trigger an implicit intent will the user see the "select an app to handle this intent"?

Or because all the apps contain the same library it will just open?

Answer 1

If I trigger an implicit intent will the user see the "select an app to handle this intent"?

If the library:

• ...is an AAR
• ...has an AndroidManifest.xml file, which...
• ...has an <activity> with an <intent-filter> that matches your implicit Intent

Then any app that incorporates the library and is not blocking that <activity> via its own manifest will be a candidate for responding to that implicit Intent. If there are 2+ of those apps, normal Android implicit Intent resolution occurs:

• If the user set a default for this Intent structure on a previous startActivity() call, that default activity will be the one that is started
• Otherwise, the user will see a chooser

Or because all the apps contain the same library it will just open?

No, because Android does not know which app is the one that the user wants.

How can i use implicit intent but avoid “select an app to handle this intent” screen?

You can't, if the user has not set a default activity. It is up to the user to decide which app's activity should handle that implicit Intent.

To put it another way: malware authors would love the ability to unilaterally hijack implicit Intents and force them all to route to the malware.